The following is an excerpt from an article by the St. Louis American highlighting our combined work with Christian Hospital and the Ferguson Empowerment Center:The Salvation Army of St. Louis and Christian Hospital received a three-year $1 million grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to coordinate health care better in North St. Louis County. For Ferguson and neighboring municipalities, data indicate that nearly half of Christian Hospital’s emergency department visits are not what medical personnel consider medical emergencies – deemed non-emergent or emergent-avoidable.
North County comprises The Salvation Army of St. Louis’ highest service in the region for emergency social services. The intersecting needs of North County residents led The Salvation Army and Christian Hospital to work together around a common goal of economic and physical wellness.

“Christian Hospital and The Salvation Army have partnered to create holistic, sustainable change by not only addressing the community’s health challenges but also the social determinants of health that lead to poor health outcomes, especially for African Americans,” said Rick Stevens, Christian Hospital president. “The Pathway to Health initiative will address the lack of access to affordable care, the need for increased health knowledge, and chronic condition management for African Americans and others, while also working to eliminate socio-economic barriers.”

Dan Jennings, The Salvation Army’s Bi-State CEO, said Pathway to Health is an expansion of its current operations inside the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center. “We will now be able to assist families and individuals in Ferguson and surrounding Zip Codes who are experiencing poverty and barriers to physical wellness,” he said.